The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
About This Image
Thought I’d give focus stacking a try. A friend from our photo club, who does excellent macro work, is using a program called Macro Studio Pro, so I thought I’d try it out. This flower is growing in our yard and comes up briefly in the fall. Not really sure of the ID, other than what iNaturalist said.
Feedback Requested
As I’m new to this, any advice would be appreciated.
Technical Details
Camera: Canon R5
Lens: 100 mm macro
Focal length: 100 mm
Shutter speed: 1/250
Aperture: 5.0
ISO: 200
24 Stack using the Focus Stacking feature in the R5.
Allen: Looks great to me. There is a lot of implied, almost explosive, energy with this. I also really like the color palette and your comp. Nicely done and pretty darn good work on the stack as far as I can see. >=))>
Hi Allen,
Boy, does this one open up on the larger view. The textures in the purple color (or maybe I should just call them lines) are really interesting. At first it looks almost like little squares, but then when I open it up, it feels a little reptilian. Cellularity is simply fascinating, and this one has an abundance of it where I would least expect it.
Allen, the variety of purple colors, the detail from the stack, and your composition do make this feel almost explosive. When you say you used the focus stacking feature in the R5, I assume you mean the automated focus adjustment to get a series of 24 separate images. Given what you wrote, I assume that the stacking was done in Macro Studio Pro, taking the 24 shots, pulling out the sharpest parts and combining those into a single image…Just being persnickity, I do see a few small stacking artifacts in the largest view. Those are unavoidable, since the laws of optics cannot be overcome. They are not visible in smaller views, so they only become important if you want to make a very large print or show on a huge monitor. When I’'m making a stack for “show”, I go in and “clean” those up with a very small clone tool. They mostly appear when there are two sharp areas, one behind the other, that cannot be captured in a single frame. (That’s one reason that I often use fairly small aperatures in my stacks.)
A great angle on this flower, Allen. I really like the way the petals fill the frame so completely. the stack looks quite good. It’s also interesting to learn that there’s a third focus stacking package out there-I’ll have to take a look at it.
If your purple flowers look like a Crocus, they’d be saffron. Interesting that they look so close but one blooms early spring and the other late fall.
I do see a few small stacking artifacts in the largest view. Those are unavoidable, since the laws of optics cannot be overcome. They are not visible in smaller views, so they only become important if you want to make a very large print or show on a huge monitor. When I’'m making a stack for “show”, I go in and “clean” those up with a very small clone tool. They mostly appear when there are two sharp areas, one behind the other, that cannot be captured in a single frame. (That’s one reason that I often use fairly small aperatures in my stacks.)